The end user is connected to a Windows Domain (2008) and was running Quickbooks. Wanted to move it to his office on his own server to stop inturruptions when IT was doing "other things". So he still needs to be connected to the domain, but we added a Windows Foundation 2008 server into his office as a workgroup. Moved the Quickbooks, mapped a drive and it works. The problem is that it takes nearly two minutes to do the initial load. When it was on the domain it came up in 10-15 seconds. Once it is loaded, it runs fine. Does anyone know why it takes so long to load from a server that is literally 15 feet away and on the same switch. His assistant is 25 feet away and has the same issue. Any ideas on how to make it faster. The server is a raid 1, 4 Gb of ram and does nothing but this. Any requests for files with explorer come up fine.

So what's the reason you aren't just running it directly on his workstation? That would seem to eliminate networking as a potential bottleneck altogether. How large is the quickbooks file? What version of QB, Pro, or Enterprise (from my understanding, Pro's DB is crap, ES is less so).

I guess I don't understand what you're trying to avoid here - IT was constantly taking the domain server down? I don't know enough about domains and workgroups to be able to comment intelligently on WHAT the problem is, but it sounds like you've added a level of complication do the equation with a separate server as a workgroup, etc. So am I to understand he still logs onto the network, but you've created a user account on the Quickbooks server for his access?

I don't understand the whole situation or what the requirements are but I think you might be able to save yourself some headaches by just simplifying.

As far as troubleshooting, how long does it take to load if you install/launch a copy of QB on the server itself via remote desktop or otherwise? If that is quick, i would say you're searching for a network configuration problem. If that still takes a long time I would say you're looking at some kind of permissions issues, etc. as a result of policies or other domain stuff getting in the way.

Yeah, I suppose there might be some authentication weirdness going on with the mixed domain/workgroup setup that is forcing QB to wait for something to time out. Instead of putting QB on a server in a separate workgroup, try putting it on a system that is also a member of the domain and see if that helps.

The years just pass like trains. I wave, but they don't slow down.-- Steven Wilson

Switch and patch cables seem to be fine. Any kind of access besides Quickbooks has no hesitation or speed issues.

The domain server is controlled by the IT dept. and this is their finance guy and he does not get along with them. They do things with the server that knocks him out of Quickbooks, but don’t seem overly concerned about it. He just wanted to have control of what the server is doing and since moving to the local server, the issue of getting knocked off has disappeared. He does have an administrative account on the Quickbooks server. He has full permissions to the Quickbooks folders. Once loaded, there are no slowness issues or errors, it just takes 2 minutes to load. The reason for a putting it on the server is so his assistant has access regardless of what his computer is doing (including being turned off).

Quickbooks on the server is just hosting, the whole program for access is not on the server. It is setup as multi-user. I’ll check out the connection diagnostic tool – thanks.

Yeah, I suppose there might be some authentication weirdness going on with the mixed domain/workgroup setup that is forcing QB to wait for something to time out. Instead of putting QB on a server in a separate workgroup, try putting it on a system that is also a member of the domain and see if that helps.

This.

Windows is trying to authenticate access to the share via the Domain, but since the server isn't part of the domain it's having to timeout and retry with the workgroup credentials. You might try using a username that is different from the domain username. That's my best guess without seeing how the share is setup.

The best solution is to put Quickbooks on a domain share. My second suggestion is to install Quickbooks on a desktop and use RDP to access the computer. My third suggestion is to use Quickbooks Online.

He's the finance guy for the IT department, but he doesn't get a long with them?

Anyway, he needs to fix the problem with IT. He needs to politely let the IT techs know he can't work like that, and work on a solution with them. If that doesn't work, then he needs to have a meeting with the IT manager, and so on until the problem get resolved. Get everything in writing, or email, and don't go over their heads. Going over their heads will just make them mad and justify, in their minds, any retaliation, if they're like that.